Why is it that Americans write the date with the month first?
DUH! how dopey is that?:devil3:
So confusing for any day of the month before the 13th, after that the rest of us “normal people” can work out what they really mean.:lol:
Cheers:zbeer:
Probably because that is the way that it is spoken. We feel the same way… why do others put the day first… we are accustomed to reading the month first so we take no notice of the incorrect method until it is upon us. I would have an appointment on Oct. 17th, not 17 October.
That’s what makes the world spin on it’s poles says he…
If indeed it is because of the way it is spoken then surely it should be Tuesday the seventeeth of October 2006?:rolleyes:
That is listed in the priority of importance to ensure absolute clarity.
Day, date, month, year.
Best wishes for your IOM venture Larry.:splat:
They even still use inches Ian.Really makes you wonder:)
At least we drive on the right side of the road. :lol: 
At least we drive on the right side of the road.
No Dan - we at this end of the globe would say that is the “wrong” side of the road.
Caused a little trouble once. I was having to report any income to a court
The “court services” lady had a conniption that I hadn’t reported a check from a Canadian client that was dated Aug 11 until mid November. Of course it was dated November 8. I pointed out that Canadians write the day first. Impersonating Maxwell Smart, she replied, “I knew that.”
many people dont actually know that before 1789 the whole world drove on the left side!
hey people
you cant blame the yankees for still using inches. we canadains use metric . you see metric is real easy to use. you need 10 units. this is something the yankees dont understand. we also drive on the right side of the road. and use a modern measurements. dont worry. i think( assume, hope, would like,wish) for everybody to use the metric system. this would be a great idea
dan just sees it though rose coloured glasses. i dont think you could name 5 countries that still use the old imperial system anymore
Funny thing is the yanks use the metric system for money,but the imperial system for mearsurment.
I wonder what other countries still use Imperial mearsurment?
The imperial system helps us crash probes into Mars:rolleyes:
When I started school in 1947, NZ used the Pounds Shillings and pence system for money, Feet and inches for length,and pounds and ounces for weight.
That is what I learnt.
What stupid systems, twelve pennies in a shilling, twenty shillings in the pound, twelve inches = one foot, three feet = one yard, sixteen ounces = one pound, fourteen pound = one stone.:graduate:
Where is the logic in any of that?
It was all just invented to confuse small children so teachers could strap you around your bum when you got it all wrong.:devil3:
Well someone here saw the light and we changed all of that nonsense to the metric systems for everything.
Now I have a resonable chance to get it right and I havent had the strap for some considerable time. (Well not unless I have requested it from the large lady in the funny outfit, but thats another post and not on this site):tapedshut
The only number I have to remember is TEN, and even I can do that.:idea:
If you think all that is bad enough, in physics we use the SLUG instead of a Pound. And don’t forget we are really using the Peso, since the $ was originally the Spanish symbol for Peso.:rolleyes:
And that’s why, until recently, stocks were always quoted in “eights.”
I guess you had to had to be there ( in 1738, or whenever those precidents were invented) to really enjoy (or influence) what was happening.
So start building your time machines and go fix the planet.
Same thing with “Football.” In the U.S, we have “Monday Night Football”, but I have yet to actually see a match on the telli! :lol: I always ask, “Is it F.I.A, or World Cup?” You get a dumb stare from the bartender, who tells you “We have FOOTBALL.”
O-L
And that’s the sorriest excuse for a ball I’ve ever seen. It’s not even round!
I am not going into the football thing, there are way too many threads on that. I played soccer for almost 40 years on 3 continents for more teams than I can remember and we never once discussed it, just played. (and I am waiting 10 more years with baited breath to turn 60 as the Senior Olympics start 2 weeks later and I can’t wait to be the KID again. I can’t wait to hack some geezer!)
The imperial metric thing does more damage than we know. Not only Mars landers, continual software exchange problems, but some genius finally figured out why we were getting all these extremely weird values that we had to memorize for the oral exam everytime we checked out in a new aircraft. Hyd and oil pump pressures that were always 2000 psi or 160 psi became 1890 and 151 or some odd number such as that. The pilots (being complainers by nature) kept arguing that we should atleast round these off so that we could focus attention on more important things (such as using the correct runway data) but management/training department would stick to manuals and data within them. Then we found out, that when the aircraft were sold overseas, and/or manufactured over there with components from the USA, the values were converted from Imperial to metric. Ok, fine, that makes sense… but then when the aircraft would be brought back to the USA (sold in the USA later) they would have the Metric values calibrated back to the Imperial value. So the small amount of change made going over, was compounded coming back and rather than use that 2000 PSI Goodyear Hyd. pump… it was a 1991 psi pump now. Good Grief.
…and the Gimli Glider incident was caused by metric/imperial confusion.
Having been raised with imperial (like Ian) converted to metric (when New Zealand changed), having had to switch in part back to imperial when I moved to the UK (still using miles and with fruit and veg vendors stubbornly sticking to lbs despite EU directives), and now living in the USA (imperial again), I consider myself to be fully bilingual!
Long after the pound went decimal.
Customer: Could I have some 2 x 1 please?
Shopkeeper: Sorry, it’s now 5 cm x 2.5 cm.
Customer: Fine. How much is it?
Shopkeeper: A shilling a foot.
And in Ireland they now signpost distances in kilometres but have speed limits in miles per hour!
A.